IslamicFinance.de

London-based Gatehouse Bank plc has announced the acquisition of Fountainbridge, a student accommodation property located in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, from Rockspring Property Investment Managers LLP UK Value fund for £20.0 million. The property is a modern, purpose-built student accommodation asset with a total of 331 bedrooms, centrally located to the University of Edinburgh, Herriot-Watt, Napier and Queen Margaret universities. The investment follows the firm's successful realisation of four investments comprising over 1,600 beds with a combined value in excess of £100 million, completed last year. The firm is currently considering other investments in the UK student accommodation sector.

Gatehouse Bank plc has announced the completion of terms to provide £17.92 million of senior financing following the recent acquisition of a UK industrial estate by Saudi Arabia's SEDCO Capital. Palmer Capital is acting as the Investment Manager to SEDCO Capital which through this venture intends to deploy £100 million into UK real estate over the next 12 months through this venture. This transaction is the first such transaction for this programme, which will target the recovering office and industrial real estate market in the UK. The funding supports the acquisition of Blakelands Industrial Estate, an industrial estate in Milton Keynes.

Gatehouse Bank plc ("Gatehouse") and Threadneedle Investments ("Threadneedle") have outlined their plans to explore the development of a range of diverse investment products aimed at the growing market segment of Islamic investors. This comes shortly after the announcement of Threadneedle's acquisition of a 2% strategic equity stake in Gatehouse. An important part of Threadneedle'sinvestment in Gatehouse is the desire of both parties to work together, sharing their respective global fund structuring knowledge and Shariah-compliant origination track record. This partnership recognises the growing potential for investment products targeting the Shariah-compliant financial sector.

Gatehouse Bank has announced the addition of Threadneedle Investments as a shareholder in Gatehouse. Threadneedle, an international asset manager based in London with assets under management of $148.2 billion, has acquired a shareholding of approximately two per cent in Gatehouse. The addition of Threadneedle to its shareholder base enhances Gatehouse's ability to continue to deliver value-added opportunities for its clients. The bank has a long history of bridging capital from the GCC region and Southeast Asia with investment in Western markets.

Gatehouse Bank has appointed David Swan in a newly-created role as head of real estate investment. Swan will lead the firm’s real estate investment department in the origination, management and realisation of real estate equity investments. Gatehouse currently advises funds with approximately £1bn assets in the UK and US. The business is focused on diversifying its investment capabilities and expanding the geographical footprint of its portfolio. Swan has more than two decades of experience in the real estate investment sector. Prior to Gatehouse, he founded Bridgeport Real Estate in 2012, a real estate company advising investors on a range of large scale off-market transactions.

Gatehouse Bank is marketing a new CMBS-style transaction backed by the rental cashflow from a Paris office property. The deal is backed by an acquisition facility of more than EUR100m, where the rental payments will be securitised through two classes of fixed-rate certificates. This new structure, labelled a commercial rental-backed security (CRBS) by Gatehouse, removes the uncertainty because the certificates are backed by the direct legal ownership of the building. The bank will look to attract typical CMBS buyers, which are increasingly seeking to access this asset class.

A combined team of partners and associates from the corporate and finance groups of Ogier's Cayman office recently advised Gatehouse Bank plc on its joint venture with Sigma Capital, for the construction of an initial 927 new rental homes, with a total development cost of approximately £110 million.

An unnamed US investment manager has committed $100m (€80.4m) to a Sharia-compliant mezzanine real estate fund managed by Gatehouse Bank. The closed-end fund, which will invest in western European financings, is the first mezzanine product to comply with Sharia principles. Gatehouse will source, arrange and structure loans up to 85% loan-to-value over the next 18 months. The main principle of Sharia investment involves avoiding assets where more than 10% of the property involves the sale of alcohol, pork or tobacco. With three to five-year terms, the loans are expected to generate net IRRs of between 6% and 10%.

Gatehouse Bank has announced the closure of its first offshore real estate financing in St Helier, Jersey. The Bank provided £10 million of senior financing to Apache Capital Partners, for the acquisition of Mourant Ozannes’ HQ offices, a offshore law firm. Apache Capital Partners, a niche Real Estate and Private Equity Investment Management Firm, specialises in investing capital from the Middle East into the UK. Given this client base, the company has offices in both London and Bahrain and currently has an approximate total of £340 million assets under management.

London-based Gatehouse Bank has purchased the leasehold interest in the Marriott Residence Inn ("Residence Inn"), Manhattan, New York for an undisclosed amount. The Bank, assisted by Arch Street Capital Advisors, LLC, has acquired the property in partnership with a US-based hotel operator. The Residence Inn is a 17-storey, recently redeveloped building located on 48th Street in Midtown East, Manhattan. The property features 211 guestrooms of multiple room configurations including studios, suites and a penthouse. All rooms include a fully equipped kitchen. The Residence Inn is an extended stay, select service brand of Marriott International that is among the strongest performing brands under the Marriott umbrella.

London-based Gatehouse Bank is developing new business lines and widening its investor base as the Islamic wholesale lender looks to build a more stable revenue stream. The bank remains focused on real estate in Europe and the United States but wants to expand its investor base beyond Kuwait, its traditional source of funds, while generating more deals outside the British property market. New chief executive Henry Thompson, who joined in April this year, says he wants to reduce the bank's dependence on transaction fees. This comes after fee and commission income dropped more than two-thirds during last year, partly because of lower deal activity in Britain. The bank also plans to launch an online retail deposit product in December and is considering structuring private investment funds.

Gatehouse?Bank has completed its first real estate financing deal. The £11.7m deal funds a joint venture between Princeton Property Partners and Resolution Property, and will turn an office block in Fitzrovia into eight flats. Meanwhile, Gatehouse Bank has hired Nick Westoby from RBS, Arnaud Schaller from Credit Agricole and Eduardo Martin from Banco Popular Espanol to bolster its real estate financing unit. Gatehouse said it has financing deal worth more than £500m in the pipeline.

Henry Thompson will take over the role of London-based Gatehouse Bank's new boss with immediate effect. He substitutes current chairman and chief executive Fahed Faisal Boodai, who will remain in his role as executive chairman. Thompson had been working in Shariah-compliant finance at Arcapita as head of legal before. Gatehouse, which offers investment banking services, has been aiming to get a foothold in London’s wealth management sector and recently opened a new office in Mayfair. Boodai said Thompson brings with him sector knowledge, which complements the activities of Gatehouse Bank.

Britain could become the first truly global Islamic finance centre if the government sets its mind to attracting infrastructure investment, according to Gatehouse Bank’s chairman Fahed Faisal Boodai. He estimates the industry is worth $1.5 trillion, and the sector is growing at around 20 per cent per year. Chancellor George Osborne is raising £200m with a sharia-compliant bond, the bank alone expects to buy £30m to £40m of the sukuk, and predicts bids for the debt to run into the billions of pounds. However, one problem is finding investment opportunities which meet stringent sharia standards. More certainty is needed if the government wants to unlock Islamic investment into infrastructure on the grand scale needed.

Property developer Sigma Capital Group has formed a 700 million pound ($1.14 billion) joint venture with Shariah-compliant Gatehouse Bank for the development of up to 6,600 new rental homes in Britain. The joint venture will initially invest 200 million pounds (approximately $326 million) in the construction of 2,000 residences in Liverpool and Salford in northwest England. Under the terms of the agreement, Gatehouse will deliver the equity element of the venture. Britain aims to address its imbalance of housing supply and demand by providing loans for the purchase of homes and by financing a 1 billion pound (about $1.6 billion) Build-to-Rent fund to encourage investment into rental housing.

London-based Gatehouse Bank plans to build 6,600 rental homes and gain from the shortage in decent housing stock. The bank hopes to gain from the big shift in the country’s housing market away from buying to renting. Gatehouse has formed a joint venture with the property developer Sigma Capital to leap into the sector. Initially they will build 2,000 new homes in Liverpool and Salford at a cost of about £200m before going on, if the venture proves a success, to build a further 4,600 properties with a further £500m investment. If successful, it would overtake Britain’s biggest stock market-quoted landlord, Grainger Trust, which has currently got 4,000 homes. Gatehouse already has a £1bn property portfolio across the UK and US.

Gatehouse Bank announced the appointment of Mr Natale Giostra as Executive Vice President and Head of Real Estate Finance, based at its City of London offices. The Real Estate Finance department forms part of Gatehouse's business growth strategy and strives to create a new focus on UK and Continental European jurisdictions. Mr Natale Giostra has joined Gatehouse Bank from CBRE, where he led the UK debt advisory team. With more than 12 years experience working in real estate banking in several countries, Giostra brings with him a solid background in the origination and distribution of senior and mezzanine real estate loans, loan sale, and acquisition of distressed CRE loans.

A task force to encourage British banks to establish sharia-compliant products, aims to position London as a Western hub for a fast-growing Islamic finance sector. The country hopes to step up the challenge to Islamic finance centres such as Dubai and Kuala Lumpur and wants to be the leading (Islamic) finance sector outside of the Muslim world. It will make it easier for banks in London to have Islamic products. Britain currently has 22 financial institutions, including five fully sharia-compliant banks, offering Islamic finance products, and 30 London law firms offering expertise on the sector.

Gatehouse Bank is a Shariah compliant wholesale investment bank based in the city of London. They seek a Head of Finance to have primary responsibility for implementing the processes, procedures, working practices and support model for the day to day running of the Finance Department.

London-based Gatehouse Bank is considering applying for two or three licences in Malaysia in universal banking, investment banking, and or, wealth management to expand its business in Asia. The bank, which recently commenced operations in Malaysia via a representative office in Kuala Lumpur, would closely discuss licensing options with the Securities Commission and Bank Negara, according to chief representative of Gatehouse Bank in Malaysia Richard Thomas. The establishment of the representative office will be the first step in a two-year larger strategic plan to apply for a full-fledged licence. In these two years, the bank will conduct and collect research as well as analyses of the risks and rewards of investing in Asia.